Ostapchuk strikes twice as Sens take three-of-four points in two-game set with Amerks

The Belleville Senators completed a two-game set with the division rival Rochester Americans and got some payback following Friday’s shootout loss, by knocking off the Amerks 4-2 at CAA Arena on Saturday night.

Despite the Senators carrying the play through the first period, Jiri Kulich scored his first of the game with a power play one-timer that managed to find its way past Kevin Mandolese, at 17:29. Belleville outshot Rochester 13-8 in the opening period.

Egor Sokolov would score a power play one-timer of his own midway through the Second, burying a feed from Max Guenette, with a first pass by Roby Jarventie. Zack Ostapchuk would tally his first of the night a little over three minutes later, beating Devon Levi with a wrist shot from the right circle. Kulich answered with his second less than a minute after that, to tie the game 2-2, but Roby Jarventie would knock in a Dillon Heatherington rebound with about four seconds remaining in the period, for the eventual game-winner.

A handful of important saves from Kevin Mandolese kept the Sens in the game throughout the night, and Ostapchuk tacked on another in the third period after Jiri Smejkal lobbed the puck over a Rochester defender and Garrett Pilon found made a nice feed across to the left circle.

Fast Facts:

• #10 Zack Ostapchuk recorded the first two-goal game of his AHL career
• #13 Egor Sokolov scored his fourth goal of the season
• #19 Matthew Boucher, #21 Max Guenette, #33 Lassi Thomson and #39 Jiri Smejkal each had an assist
• #22 Garrett Pilon had two assists and is on a three-game point streak (tw0 goals, three assists)
• #31 Kevin Mandolese earned his first win of the season, making 22 saves on 24 shots against
• #34 Roby Jarventie extended his point streak to five games by registering a goal and an assist
• The Senators were 1/5 on the power play and killed off 3/4 penalties against

Highlights:

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on the victory:

“I thought we were pretty good overall. Our tenacity below the goalie hemmed their defensemen in. We were just hounding pucks and stripping pucks from behind. The guys did a really good job at that, not giving their D any space to join the rush.”

Belleville Sens forward Zack Ostapchuk on the mood in the dressing room through a quarter of the season:

“It’s just a sense of confidence. These last three games I’ve felt we’ve played really well and have been our three best games of the year. We just have to keep that going, we know what to do and I think good times are coming.”

Media Availabilities:

Next Up:

• Saturday, December 2, 2023, vs Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) – 7:00 p.m. (Food Drive Night presented by Rosebush Energies).
• Wednesday, December 6, 2023 @ Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens) – 7:00 p.m.
• Friday December 8, 2023 vs Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday December 9, 2023, vs Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings) – 7:00 p.m. (Teddy Bear Toss)

Ticket Info:

Tickets for all Belleville Sens home games for the remainder of the 2023-24 season are now on sale online, via Ticketmaster or the Belleville Sens Ticket Hub, by visiting the Belleville Sens Box Office at the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre, or by emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com. Box Office hours are available by clicking here.

Fans can also click the following links for more information on season seat memberships, flex packs, group experiences or Business Elite memberships, or send an email to tickets@bellevillesens.com.

The full 2023-2024 Belleville Senators regular season schedule can be found by clicking here.

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